by Topaz Hauyn
Forgotten Communications
Topaz Hauyn
Late as always, Samuel. Deidre leaves when he arrives. Does their hidden love have a chance to grow?
Deidre Uhland usually resides in calm places. Her library, her solitary home, the park.
Despite that, she stands in the hot, grease smelling fast food restaurant. During the late afternoon rushhour. With her broken wrist hurting more by the minute. Waiting for Samuel, an old schoolfriend.
Late to his own invitation. Deidre finally marches to the door to leave. There she runs into Samuel.
The hint of romance, two different lifestyles. A sweet second chance for Deidre and Samuel.
Deidre Uhland stopped.
She smiled happy.
She had finally escaped the hords of students, who had entered directly behind and chased her through the room to get out of their way.
Now she took a deep breath, turning around.
Immediately she closed her eyes in disgust. This fast food restaurant smelled like very old, way to often used deep-frying fat. Her stomach started to tumble by the thought to have to eat a single one of the french fries served here, let alone a whole serving.
She opened her eyes again.
The dirt in the corners, black and long ignored, was still there. What an awful contrast to her neat and clean kitchen, home at her little home.
She turned around trying to find her appointment in the loud crowd of the restaurant. Long queues stood before the counter. People were seemingly overeagerly waiting for their meals.
No, Samuel Beier was not among them.
She turned around and leaned against the window at her side feeling the cold of the evening through her thin jacket. The window looked clean enough not to ruin her jacket. She was looking at the tables now. Some were full of families feeding their loud children hamburgers and french fries drinking soft drinks. Wouldn't it be better to send the children on the playground powering them out and then bring them to bed, Deidre asked herself, looking at big clock over the front door.
Six twenty.
Samuel was late and the children due to bed.
Scanning over the remaining tables, with singles she didn't see Samuel either.
Deidre pushed away from the window weaved through the crowd, trying to avoid each body contact and failed. Each time someone stepped aside unexpectedly and hit her, her left arm it hurt. The cast around her broken wrist didn't avoid pain, just immobilized it to let it heal better. Exhausted from trying to get away from the crowd, Deidre finally reached the door.
How had she managed to get to the other side before, she asked herself? She remembered, that some time ago, the space before the counters had been empty, and behind her, the students had stormed the fast food restaurant. She sighted and stretched her right arm out to pull the door open.
That same moment someone opened the door from the other side.
Deidre quickly stepped aside, avoiding getting hit by the door, then feeling the cold yet fresh evening breeze on her face.
That was much better than this smelly, fat dripping air of loud shouts and shrill child laughter behind her. She caught the door to held it open for the new customer to step in and then leave the house.
“Hi, Deidre, glad you made it.” Samuel stood in front of her. Long brown coat, black trousers and a warm scarf tightly wrapped around his neck with a huge smile on his face, reflecting in his blue eyes.
“Sorry, for being late. Traffic jam. Shall we?”, he pointed to the restaurant.
Deidre shook her head.
“Hello, Sam, late as always, with a great excuse, too.” She tried to smile back, but her wrist hurt, so her smile didn't manage to reach her brown eyes. “I will eat nothing from this place. You can eat with me at home, or visit me after you had dinner”, she offered, knowing exactly his love for fast food.
He looked at her more closely and discovered the weird ankle she held her broken arm and realizing she wore only a thin office costume and flats, she could see it in the question marks showing up in his eyes. The morning had been warm, and she hadn't planned on going out on dinner, until he had called in the early afternoon.
“Are you here by yourself? Shall I call you a taxi? I can use the drive through and eat with you at home?”, Samuel offered.
Deidre nodded and stepped out of the door into the night. Others wanted to use it and they were blocking it.
“Drive me home please. I used a taxi. Driving is not an option at the moment.” Deidre held her arm closer to her body and wrapped her other one around it.
Samuel followed and lead her to his car, a blue one, as far as she could see in the dim light of the street lamps. He opened the front-seat passenger door for Deidre and helped her fasten her seat belt, then walked around and got on the car, too.
The seat felt soft and warm. What a nice variety to feel warm again so fast. She had had herself already mentally perpared to wait in the cold night for Samuel, but being driven home was much better, even if she had to live with the old deep-frying fat stench a little longer. At least she could enjoy her smoothie and basil tofu, instead of being forced to eat those fries.
“Anything I can order for you, Deidre?”
“No, thanks. I've a smoothie waiting for me at home. Thanks, Sam.”
Samuel started the engine and left the parking space, driving around to the empty drive through counter, placing his order. Some minutes later, with a colorful, smelling bag on the back seat, they headed on the way to Deidre's home.
Samuel drove silently, except for the instructions from his navigation device which led him to the outlying suburb, where Deidre lived. He hadn't visited her for years. The four floor apartment building looked well cared for from what he could see by the street and house lights in the dark. All lights shone and the plastered way, leading to the front door was free of branches. He decreased his speed, looking for a free parking lot.
“There, on the left, use this one.” Deidre pointed to an empty space half hidden behind the edge of hazelnut hedge.
Samuel parked the car and helped Deidre unfasten her seat belt. She still didn't use perfume, just her own scent, now mixed with the yummy flavor of the fast food from the back seat. Samuel inhaled the scent and enjoyed feeling her warm fingers in his hand, while helping her out of the car. He counted himself lucky getting an appointment with his old school friend upon such a short notice. Sadly he was only on his way through the city and couldn't stay.
“Are you married?” Samuel remembered having not seen her at the last class reunion four years ago.
“No.”
A moment of silence, then Samuel added. “I am neither. Just a sec, to get my food.” He opened the back door and got his food back.
“Can I help you?” He felt a bit odd. Normally he invited some girl to his hotel room or met one in one of the restaurants around for some distraction after his daily consulting work.
“Thank you, I am fine.” She started walking back to the front door expecting him to follow.
“Why aren't you married, yet?”, Deidre continued the topic he had started.
“Well, ...”, he didn't know. Maybe none of the girls was suitable for the job, Samuel thought. But Deidre, the intelligent library inhabitant from his old schooldays, of course wasn't interested in his bed stories.
“Uhm”, he continued, scratching his earlobe, “I didn't find true love.”
Deidre turned around suddenly. She stood directly under a lantern, and he could see her eyes opened wide in disbelief. “You, Sam, talk to me about true love? Unbelievable.” She shook her head and her brown curls were flying around her head.
Samuel grinned. She hadn't believed him, clever girl.
Opening the fron
t door with a key from her jacket pocket, Deidre pointed to the elevator.
“Call it please, I'll just empty the post box.”
The elevator and Deidre arrived, she empty-handed, at the same time.
“Why aren't you married, yet? Clever as you are, the men surely stand in a queue for you”, Samuel guessed.
She was not only clever but even more beautiful than in school or at their first class reunion, where he had seen her the last time, nine years ago. He thought about the unhappy events taking place afterwards, and quickly pushed those thoughts away.
“Nope, no queue. This is my floor.” The doors of the elevator opened and Deidre opened the door to her home, inviting him in.
“Left is the bathroom, I'm in the kitchen, first door on the right, preparing dinner.” Deidre kicked her flats to the other pairs of shoes in the hall and hanged her jacket on a wood hanger letting her red top appear before entering the kitchen and turning on the lights, which looked like a million little fireflies to Samuel, still standing in the hall.
She was too quick to his taste. He finally closed the door behind him, then followed to the kitchen placing his bag onto the table next to the window. The kitchen was white with white cupboards and only the table and the chairs were vibrant red. A spider plant lived on the windowsill next to some green sprouts. Healthy stuff, he thought, good idea to bring his own food. Maybe he could tempt her to try something? It would make for more fun in her diet for sure. He went to the bathroom to wash his hands. Her hint had been clear: Wash your hands before we eat.
While washing his hands with the perfumed soap, was it cinnamon?, Samuel heard Deidre open the tap in the kitchen, washing her hands as well. The red towels to dry his hands were cottony, and the bathroom looked similar to the kitchen. White with some red highlights, like the towels or the cup for her toothbrush and her hairbrush made from red wood.
Strange idea of furnishing a home, Samuel thought, but couldn't help to imagine how her bedroom might look like. White with red blankets? A bed with red wood and red sheets and white blankets? White lockers and red curtains? Or was she sparing all the colors for her bedroom?
Returning to the kitchen he saw her laying the table, starting with glasses and a water jug.
“Wait, let me help you.” He offered, seeing her cast the first time in full light. More determined now, he led her to a chair, pulled it out and waited untill she sat down.
“Where do I find the plates and the silverware?”
“Left to the stove.” He waited as she made a pause until she continued. “Plates are up in the cupboard. My smoothie and tofu are in the fridge at the top. Thank you, Sam.”
She didn't sound happy to him, but at the moment he would make sure she relieved her wrist.
Probably she would need it later but for now it was better he did the work. He could peek into her cupboards this way and could move to get his energy under control. He loved it, when she called him Sam. No one ever did. She started doing so somewhere in middle school after helping him find the necessary book to learn for a Math test. Sadly she never disclosed why she nearly lived in the library, so he never confessed how much he liked her and suddenly school was over and everyone was staring his work life and was gone.
“What happened to your wrist?”, he asked after placing silverware and white plates on the table.
“Stumbled across a pile of books. Bad luck.” She smiled.
Positive as always he thought. That's why he had called when his meeting ended early today. He loved her attitude, her positivity about life and even her willingness to meet him at a fast-food restaurant, he was sure, she by herself would never have set a foot into voluntarily.
Samuel opened the fridge. “What the..”
“What's up?” Deidre was already next to him. “What's the matter?” She tried to peek into the fridge to which he was blocking the sight.
“Everything's alright. Just a bit surprised by so many juices in your fridge. Do you even eat solid food?” He looked from one bottle with colorful juice to the next. Red, purple, orange, green, lots of shades of green, even blue was available.
“Sure, my basil tofu.” Deidre laughed and Samuel fell in.
She pointed to one green shaded bottle and some green and white spotted rectangular block on a dish.
Samuel took both and put it on the table.
“Be good to yourself”, they both said at the same time, and Samuel immediately opened his paper bag with lots of rustle and finally ripped the bag apart. He was hungry.
Deidre watched Samuel walking around her kitchen, laying the table. His shock seeing all her smoothies amused her a lot. Of course she ate solid food. In the canteen at work. Today it had been noodles with tomato sauce. Sam looked better than before. He had hung his coat and she concluded he had to come directly from work wearing black trousers, white shirt and navy blue tie with dress shoes. No jewelry, not even a tiepin. Maybe he still prefered casual looks, Deidre thought, while watching how Sam ripped the paper bag around his fast food apart. He bit off a huge piece of his burger, chewing it as if he hadn't eaten for days, which seemed unrealistic to her. Reminding her green smoothie she took a sip.
“Why did you phone me? Just meeting an old schoolmate?”, Deidre asked.
Mouth full, he nodded and tried to smile but quickly gave up, continued chewing.
Deidre picked up some tofu, the moment he swallowed his bit.
“Want some tofu?”, she asked and offered him the box with the diced food.
“No, thanks, Deidre”, he looked doubting into the box, then offered her his french fries. “How about some fries for you? They are great. Taste one.”
Deidre shook her head and sipped more of her food.
“No, thank you, Sam. I have seen the inside of the restaurant. Nothing they cook I would eat voluntarily.”
He rose an eyebrow and started to eat the fries by himself.
“What are you working? Why are you in the city?”, Deidre continued to ask question. His call had been short and he had sounded urgently. Maybe she had overinterpreted, but she was too curious to let a possibility to learn more about Sam, vanish. He was an unsolved riddle to her. Sad thing the smell from the fast food restaurant was now filling her kitchen. She would have to air the room many times to get rid of this smell again. Well, she already found out something new about him. He seemed to dress properly nowadays. Deidre grinned and Samuel grinned back.
An instant later he bounced and ran out of the kitchen. He already left before the chair hit the floor, then slammed the bathroom door shut. Deidre still looked at the empty place opposite to her when her ears heard him vomiting in the bathroom. What could she do? Glass of water maybe. Deidre got a fresh glass and filled it with tap water, then went to the bathroom without knocking. Sam hung over the toilet bowl and looked ashen but seems finished vomiting.
“Sam, drink a glass of water. It might help”, Deidre offered and Sam looked up. She grabbed a guest towel and handed it him first to wipe his chin clean, then handed him the glass.
“Shall I call a doctor?”, Deidre asked.
Samuel shook his head and carefully sipped little swallows of water.
“No. Don't know what's wrong, but it's better now.”
Samuel got on his feet and Deidre left. The remaining french fries welcomed her in the kitchen, smelling worse than before after having seen and scented them in the toilet bowl. Her stomach began to rumble. Spontaneous she grabbed them, stuffed them in a plastic bag, together with the hamburger and placed them in the utmost corner of her little balcony, letting the door open to allow for some fresh air in the kitchen. Then she leaned on the windowsill and waited, thinking about her options. She could offer him an overnight sleep on her couch, or call a doctor and send him to the hospital for thorough check in. She was sure, he would refuse the latter.
Samuel came back into the kitchen, still pale and walking a bit wobbly. He had undressed his tie and opened the two top buttons of his shirt.
&nbs
p; “The water did the trick. I feel better now”, he said and placed the glass in the sink.
“You haven't called the doctor, do you?”, he asked suspiciously watching her.
“No. But I did remove your food. I am sure it is responsible for your state. The restaurant was really dirty.”
“Nah. I'm used to ...”, Samuel started and stopped.
“Used to dirt?”, Deidre asked. Why was he used to dirt, she questioned herself.
“Nah. Used to, uhm, to fast foot. Eat it all the time.”
“Why did you ...”, Samuel started asking, after realizing his food was gone from the table and the kitchen was full of cold evening air. Not a single scent of his burger was available any more. He felt sick but wasn't willing to let go of his food, although feeling as if he could vomit again only seeing it.
“How can we ...”, Deidre started at the same time, arms crossed before her chest, looking directly in his eyes. She doesn't seem to feel guilty.
They both stopped and looked at each other. Samuel tried to figure out what to do next. Should he try to ask again for his food? Deidre seemed tired, he thought realizing dark shadows beneath her eyes. He wanted to ask when she got up this morning, but was interrupted again.
A high ring repeated again and again.
“Fire alarm?”, Samuel asked.
Deidre nodded, eyes wide open and shocked. He thought, still a bit slow. He felt wrung out and wanted to eat, or better sleep.
“Do you have an emergency bag?”, Samuel asked slowly. He had been running out on different fires through his life and early made a habit out of having his most important things with him.
“No, yes, ah. My handbag, and my suitcase in the bedroom”, she babbled.
“I take the suitcase, you get your handbag and put on some shoes and a jacket”, he commanded and run to the bedroom. He knew exactly he shouldn't get a suitcase with him, but well, up to now each time there had been more than enough time to grab a thing or two before leaving the buildings. The water of the firefighters normally destroyed everything and a cold night in a tent or a youth hostel with foreign clothes was nothing he wished her to experience. Thankfully the suitcase was next to the door and he quickly looked around. Her blankets were red but the wallpaper was red too. Samuel turned around, seeing Deidre dressed at the door and followed suit. The other door on their floor was opened the same time, Samuel closed Deidre's. An elderly woman came out with a rollator in front of her.
